SCHRIEVER SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. -- U.S. Space Force and Air Force Reserve senior leaders held a town hall for members of the 310th Space Wing on the service’s new part-time personnel model, which will not mirror traditional Reserve structures, at the Peterson Space Force Base Event Center, August 2.
Unlike other military branches with Reserve components, the U.S. Space Force is a single-component service. Space Force Guardians will serve in either full-time or part-time status. Legacy Reserve models with fixed monthly unit training assemblies and full mission sets are not part of the new structure. Instead, Space Force part-time opportunities are role-specific and designed to be episodic. These include test and evaluation, training support and education, and headquarters staff roles.
“You’ll be able to select your preferences for positions—you’ll see the job description and location,” said U.S. Space Force Col. Matthew E. Holston, the Space Force’s Personnel Management Act Integration director. “Your minimum participation can be 36 days, but the expected work schedule will be set by the hiring authority, and it may be Monday through Friday work. You may find opportunity for weekend work, but the hiring authority will define what the schedule looks like.”
Part-time assignments are designed to offer flexibility to Guardians whose life circumstances may change—not to serve as a career path like the Reserve.
“We believe this is going to help us with talent retention,” Holston said. “There may be life events where you say, ‘I want to continue to serve, but I need to take a step back’. This gives us an opportunity to do that.”
Commanders determine which billets are eligible for part-time service based on mission requirements, and those positions are reviewed annually. Guardians who wish to continue service at the end of a part-time assignment must reapply and compete for available positions. New Guardians entering the service are required to be in full-time roles and can only apply to part-time positions after a number of years, but current members of the 310th Space Wing face a different situation.
“We recognize the current capacity that you are in,” Holston said acknowledging the traditional Reserve model. “So, what we've done is put some caveats in there to allow for a slightly elongated opportunity, and potentially more opportunities to serve in a part-time work role. However, our long-term vision is not necessarily this career-long part-time work role.”
Members of the 310th selected for transfer into the Space Force for part-time positions will be placed into assignments lasting up to three years before needing to recompete for a full or part-time position instead of one year.
“The way that we are building the part-time opportunities in the Space Force is a very different than the Reserve model, meaning our intent is that the part-time opportunities are episodic,” Holston said. “At some point in (a Guardian’s) career, based off of their desire that lines up with the services need, they may have the opportunity to enter into a part-time work role agreement.”
These exceptions being made for personnel eligible for transferring to the Space Force in a part-time capacity signal the value Space Force leaders places on their operational experience and the desire to retain their talent.
“I need your expertise. I need your experience,” said U.S. Space Force Brig. Gen. Matthew Cantore, deputy commander of Space Training and Readiness Command. “There are many areas where the part-time opportunities in the Space Force model of the future are absolutely dependent upon the expertise that you already have today… in STARCOM, we build readiness—those people and systems. Our job is to stay ahead of the adversary, and I need you to do that.”
The 310th Space Wing is the last Air Force unit dedicated solely to space operations. Its members have played an essential role in missions ranging from satellite command and control to GPS support, space surveillance, and missile warning. As part of the Space Force Personnel Management Act, the 310th SW will be inactivated in the coming years.